Congress workers protest against BHU student gang rape in front of PM's office in Varanasi

Varanasi: Congress workers on Tuesday staged a protest near the Prime Minister's PRO office in his constituency here against the alleged involvement of local BJP leaders in the gang rape of a BHU student.

The workers from the Congress' Varanasi Metropolitan Committee and District Committee staged a demonstration near the Prime Minister's Public Relations Office in Ravindrapuri.

The workers had gathered to decry the alleged involvement of BJP local leaders in the gang rape of a student on November 1 on the IIT campus of Banaras Hindu University, a party office bearer said.

Two months into the case, police on Sunday arrested three men associated with either RSS or BJP in connection with the incident.

Bhelupur Police Station SHO Vijay Shukla said that police had beefed up security and erected barricades around the Prime Minister's office ahead of the protest.

"After protesting there for some time, the Congress workers submitted a memorandum to the police and returned," the SHO said.

Congress workers in hundreds took out a rally from Gurudham intersection towards the Prime Minister's Office, but were stopped by police midway, said a party office bearer.

The president of the Metropolitan unit of the party, Raghavendra Choubey, said, "We have submitted a four-point memorandum demanding withdrawal of cases registered against those students who had staged protests in support of the victim." Their other demand is withdrawal of a defamation case filed against state unit president Ajay Rai, who had in November, soon after the rape, claimed that people associated with BJP were involved in it.

The defamation case was filed against Ajay Rai under pressure from the government, and it should be withdrawn with an apology, Choubey said.

The party also demanded the formation of a committee to probe who all had been involved in protecting the accused since November.

In the wake of the incident, hundreds of BHU students gathered on the campus in protest and demanded the administration ban the entry of outsiders.

According to the victim's complaint, she had gone out of her hostel with a friend on the night of November 1.

They were near the Karman Baba temple when three men came there on a motorcycle, forcibly took her to a corner, and gagged her after separating her from her friend.

The accused then allegedly stripped the woman, made a video of her and clicked photos. They let her go after about 15 minutes and took her phone number.

On the basis of her complaint, an FIR was registered under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code and under provisions of the Information Technology Act at Lanka Police Station. Later, the charge of gang rape was added to the FIR.

Three people -- Kunal Pandey, Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, and Saksham Patel -- were arrested in connection with the case on Sunday, said Shivakant Mishra, Station House Officer, Lanka Police Station.

Soon after the arrest, UPCC president Ajay Rai posted on the X, "For the BJP, 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' is just a slogan. I had said at that time that BJP people are involved in this matter." The Congress leader said in another post, "The person who gang-raped an IIT BHU student is none other than BJP's Kunal Pandey, convener of Mahanagar IT cell, and Saksham Patel, who is the PA of Dilip Patel (Kashi zone president of the BJP). This is the evil face of the BJP. Shameful," After the incident, RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad lodged a complaint of defamation against Rai.